North Europeans have more Asperger's traits?

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Are north Europeans more likely to have Asperger's or if not, is it easier to be on the syndrome if living in north Europe? I was reading up on dating German men and the description is the same as Asperger's syndrome, such as they don't pick up on social cues, you have to tell them direct if you're interested in them and they don't like small talk. In Britain people don't like being over friendly with strangers, we like personal space and aren't as touchy or feely as Mediterranean people.

Would it be more difficult to have Asperger's if living in a country where they kiss each other for greeting. I have a friend from Portugal and she's always hugging me when she first sees me, and at first it made me uncomfortable.

I'm British and I try to watch videos of Americans doing hair and make up and they ramble on for about 15 mins about nonsense, before they actually get to the point in the video. I think in Britain we're more exact and methodical when explaining things, and as I have Aspergers I prefer that. I don't find life too difficult in Britain, as once I practice eye contact, I know I can just talk about weather if uncomfortable and I don't have to chat to strangers or touch them unless I know them well.

I think that is why autism is less diagnosed over there. The culture compensates for their disorder so their symptoms would be considered normal. They would need to have more impairments to be diagnosed. But I hear people in the UK who are higher functioning have a harder time getting diagnosed. In the US they would probably have an easier time getting one.

If, as here in Sweden, the general culture is sort of "autistic-ish" in some regards, with larger distances between people, then I think it is even harder to be autistic since there are really no apparent inroads for meeting people, if you are on the outside of society.

I think you've hit the nail right on the head. Germany has one of the lowest rates, because our type of behaviour is so normal there.

There is a certain detachment within some people from Northern Europe----which people in more southerly climes simply do not have.

Included in this, actually, is the UK. The Irish, though, tend to be more demonstrative and social.

Well, I'm a north european with asperger's. I don't think there's more people with asd here than other places. Most people here are actually very social, but more reserved to strangers, since that pretty much lies in the culture. I don't think that means that it's easier having asd here still. Many people tend to be very judgemental and cold to anyone who's different. I don't know if it's the same in other places, just something I've observed.

I don't think less people with ads get diagnosed here. We have a health care system that makes it quite easy to get diagnosed, and our culture itself doesn't make up for the difficulties that come with asd.

My grandfather who was from north germany had a lot of aspergers traits, I think it's part of the culture, and he just seemed awkward since he was from another country and had an accent and strange way of forming sentences. I'm sure he was neurotypical, he was very social at times, but usually kept to himself reading books and would occasionally accuse people of not paying attention to him enough. He also seemed to have several OCD and PTSD (he grew up in nazi germany) symptoms which put strains on family relationships at times.

Probably more culturally than genetically. We scandinavians are big on things like taking turns, standing in line and general orderliness. Our perception of what constitutes personal space is certainly on the larger side, and overlarge expressions of emotion in is generally kept either in the home or at least in a company of friends in a semi-private setting. A stoic lot, we are.

This is of course as compared to the rest of the world.

My dad married into an Italian family and I was weirded out by how affectionate and talkative they are. Even when they first met me they were hugging and kissing me on the cheek and kept calling me "bella." They seem to really be into feeding people too. Way different then northern European cultures.

They are usually more introverted than South Europeans:



There are even regional differences in traits within Britain:

North Europeans have more introverted traits. Stereotypical south European behaviour matches extroverted Autistics perfectly. Talkative(about their own interests ) and touchey to the point of obnoxiosity- actually unable to sense that this behaviour might make others uncomfortable. Controlling, easily led to a loud emotional meltdown the list goes on and on

Educational thread - thank you.